Can physical activity affect sleep disruption among the elderly with diabetes mellitus?

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common chronic diseases among older people. The older people with DM suffer from sleep disturbances. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity on sleep disruption in the older Malaysians with diagnosed DM. In this project, 502 diabetic older Malaysians were evaluated to show the effects of age, ethnicity, sex differences, marital status, and physical activity on sleep problems. Approximately 43 % of respondents experienced sleep disruption. It was found that age (p < 0.001, OR = 1.07) significantly increased sleep problems in subjects. Furthermore, physical activity (p = 0.002, OR = 0.56) and being ethnic non-Malay (p = 0.003, OR = 0.56) decreased sleep disturbances. Marital status and sex differences were not found to be significant predictors for sleep disruption (p > 0.05). It was concluded that physical activity could effectively reduce sleep disruption among the diabetic older population.